


It’s a choice I’ve Made

by AbbyGibbs



Category: Vera (TV)
Genre: A bit (much) a Celine Ashworth dislike, Gen, Not really relate to an episode, Relationship Discussions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:40:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23064115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbbyGibbs/pseuds/AbbyGibbs
Summary: Joe wonders why Vera stays alone.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	It’s a choice I’ve Made

They had just closed another case. Joe and Vera were standing side by side facing the seaside. Another lad was behind bars. The poor man shouldn’t, she agreed with the DS, but at the end of the day it was still murder.

“You should go home to Celine and the kids, Joe.”

Joe Ashworth didn’t answer his boss, instead he just stared ahead of him.

“Joe?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Vera.”

“All right, love.”

Vera had noticed the last few weeks Joe didn’t seem keen to go home to his wife and kids, but she hadn’t said a word about it. After all it wasn’t her place. On the other hand, her DS was someone she liked very much. He was always there for her when she needed him.

“Fancy a nice cup of tea?”

“Sure.”

“Come on.” 

Vera took him to a lovely place she knew. She went there each time she needed to take some time to think. To recover. 

‘It’s a lovely place,” he said when she stopped her car.

“It is. I come here whenever I need some time on my own,” Vera told him while adjusting her hat.

No more words were exchanged until they entered. She went ahead to order their drinks while Joe looked for a free table. It didn’t take long before he spotted one. He sat and waited for his boss to come back. He smiled at her when she handed him a coffee.

“I thought you asked me if I’d fancy a cup of tea?”

“I forgot. Drink up, pet. It’ll do you good.”

Joe Ashworth didn’t answer and simply took a sip. 

Vera noticed that her DS looked at her in a strange way and wondered what was on his mind.

“Come on, love, spill it.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” 

“It’s all right. Now, what is it you wanted to say?”

“I just wondered why…” his voice trailed off as he was scared to continue. 

His boss looked at him for a few instants and smiled. “It’s a choice I’ve made.” 

“Why?”

“I have my own ways, Joe. I couldn’t impose myself on anyone and I don’t want to. I’m used to being alone and it doesn’t bother me. I’ve already seen too much in this job of ours. I love it, don’t get me wrong, but most of the time you see the worst in people. Of course, it’s not all bad; some good and some satisfaction comes out of it each time we manage to put a killer behind bars…”

“Yes, but after a long day it’s nice to have someone to come home to.”

“I’m not saying it isn’t, Joe. I don’t feel the need of it, and I would be very happy if the person I love and says loves me would reproach me for spending too much time at work or even too much time with my boss. Only because he doesn’t understand the job, and how important it is for a family to have answers. That is something I wouldn’t accept. Another reason why I’m alone.”

Listening to Vera he started to understand her reasons. The choice she made was the right one for her, but also for other she didn’t her lifestyle to anyone. A difficult choice. He wasn’t sure he could have made it through everything without Celine, though things weren’t going well between them lately. They were slowly drifting apart. It was as if suddenly they weren’t on the same page anymore. Celine seemed to want more out of their lives while he was just happy with the way things were at this point.

As she looked at him Vera noticed suddenly that Joe seemed elsewhere with his thoughts. 

“Joe?”

“Huh? Sorry.”

“Not a problem, pet. I didn’t tell you this to make you feel bad about yourself or even Celine. Like I said it’s my choice no one else’s. I decided not to impose my choices to anyone that is all. On the other hand…” Vera started but stopped herself for a moment, not sure if she should tell him this. In the end she decided honesty was the best policy.

Joe was too good sometimes for Celine in her eyes. Joe Ashworth was a good man who wouldn’t know what to do first for his wife. Working hard to give her everything she wished within reason of course. Celine thought he could do better. The fact she called her Mussolini in the private of their home told her a lot.

A marriage is a two way street. In the Ashworth family it looked more like it was only a one-way street. Everything had the way his wife wanted, and it saddened her.

“Celine only takes. Rarely wants to make a compromise. I shouldn’t be imposing this on her.”

“Joe. I said I didn’t want to force my choices on anyone, though when you are in a relationship before or while you decide to be a policeman, it’s slightly different. I’m sorry, love, but Celine should be a little more understanding. Being married to a police officer is like being married to a doctor or a midwife, or even a firefighter. You know from the start you’ll have to share your husband or wife with lots of other people; you don’t choose where there is an emergency somewhere. OK dead people don’t go anywhere, but their families have rights too. They have the right to answers. If the person you are with knew they wouldn’t be able to share, that same person could have said no at the start of the relationship. To me, they have no right to complain afterwards, they knew what they were getting into. And making the other person feel guilty is easy. So, they don’t have to admit to themselves that they were wrong in the first place.”

The man sitting in front of her didn’t say anything in return, letting Vera’s words sink it. She was right. A marriage or even a relationship is a give and take. Maybe he should have a serious talk with his wife and for once tell her what he wants instead of only giving in. 

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Thanks Tayryn for the beta work. :)


End file.
